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Statement on President Obama's climate plan

Below is a statement from Damon Moglen, climate and energy program director of Friends of the Earth, on President Obama's speech and plan addressing climate change.

"This is not a climate plan but a selection of actions -- some very welcome actions like those proposed for cutting emissions from power plants -- but not the broad, ambitious plan that is needed to combat climate change and extreme weather. Coming just days after the International Energy Agency announced that global carbon emissions reached a new and terrifying high in 2012, President Obama’s proposed actions do not go nearly far enough or fast enough. We need ambitious leadership and actions from the president. A sensible climate plan would include a renunciation of the president’s “all of the above” energy strategy, which promotes biofuels, so-called clean coal, natural gas and dirty and dangerous nuclear power. In order to address climate change, the president needs to focus on the ambitious development of renewable energy, energy storage and efficiency technologies while setting us on a path which clearly leaves behind the fossil fuel-based energy economy of the 20th century.

"Finally, in his speech, the president suggested that the administration would not issue a permit for the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline if it is shown that the project will significantly exacerbate climate change and harm our national interest. We applaud this commitment by the president. As it is clear that the pipeline will increase carbon emissions, we look forward to the president rejecting the permit."